Embroidery or print: what should you choose?

Three methods, and the choice almost always comes down to two things: how many colours your logo has, and how many garments you need.

Embroidery lasts longest and costs most to set up. Screen print only gets cheap past fifty pieces. DTF has no setup and handles every colour, but it is not the cheapest at a thousand.

Embroidery

The logo is stitched into the fabric with thread. It gives depth, and it survives hundreds of washes without visible wear. Polyester and cotton blends suit it best.

The limit is detail. Gradients cannot be stitched, and letters under five millimetres get hard to read. Price rises with the number of stitch types, not with the number of garments.

Screen print

Ink is pressed through a fine mesh onto the fabric. The print sits flat and clean, and the colour range is effectively unlimited.

It works best on flat surfaces such as T-shirts and polos, and is harder on thick materials like softshell and fleece. Above 60 degrees it starts to lose intensity.

DTF

The design is printed on film, given a melt powder as adhesive, and heat pressed across. The result is photographic quality with sharp edges, whatever the colour count.

It works on almost every textile: cotton, polyester, nylon and blends. Including black, which is the most common reason people choose it.

The numbers

Durability, in industrial washes: embroidery several hundred, DTF 60 to 80, screen print 40 to 50 before it starts to fade.

Setup: embroidery has a one-off digitising of the logo. Screen print needs one frame per colour. DTF has none.

Where each pays off: embroidery from ten upward, screen print from around fifty, DTF from five.

So which do you pick

Simple logo on a jacket or polo: embroidery.

Many identical garments, few colours: screen print.

Few garments, many colours, or dark fabric: DTF.

If you are unsure, put the logo into the studio. It suggests a method per garment, and you see the placement straight away.